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The Netherlands Finish First Year In ENC 1B With Win Over Sweden

Posted by Nikolay Fuller on 20 July 2015 | 1041 Comments

The Netherlands national rugby team were successful in beating Sweden 24-14 on Saturday, 30th of May. Conditions were excellent in Amsterdam with only some wind to speak off.

The Dutch team were the first to score in the first half by a great individual effort by centre Rik Rovers in the 7th minute. The rest of the first half was a real battle and the Swedish team scored once under the posts to give them a 5-7 lead at halftime.

The Dutch team then started the second half well and were leading 12-7 within the first minute of the half until the Swedish team went on attack and took the lead after scoring the posts from a quick penalty. Tries from Leon Koenen and Mambo Norbecio for the Netherlands quickly put the game of of reach for the Swedes and were enough to close out a 24-14 victory.

This result now means that the Netherlands rugby team is now placed fourth above Sweden and Poland at the end of the first round of the Europeans Nations Cup, group 1B.

AT A GLANCE:

Netherlands 24 (Rik Roovers, Kyle Beakey, Leon Koenen, Mambo Norbecio tries; Leon Koenon 1 con, Maarten van Osch 1 con). Sweden 14 (Jacobus van Niekerk, Dustin Eaton tries; Dustin Eaton 1 con, Neill Erasmus 1 con).

European Nations Cup 2014-2016 Overview

1. Belgium

2. Moldova

3. Ukraine

4. Netherlands

5. Poland

6. Sweden

The way the European Nations Groups work is that each team plays every team in their group home and away over a period of two years. The Netherlands have now finished their first year of games for their 1B group and so the goal now becomes holding their place in the 1B group next year. This can be achieved as long as they win at least one game over the coming year. If this is achieved then the Dutch gain a chance at qualifying for the 2019 World Cup in Japan, which is given to the highest ranked team in every group under 1A.

The current team is building some very good momentum after having current coach Alex Chang from Australia in charge for his third year. The vast majority of the squad play locally in the national rugby competition. While rugby is still a relatively small sport in the Netherlands with only around 10,000 registered players, popularity for the sport is growing rapidly especially amongst the nation’s youth. This growth in popularity is a result of the sport’s values around teamwork, respect, enjoyment, discipline and sportsmanship.